A lot of people have been watching HBO’s The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst. The documentary/investigative series is directed by Andrew Jarecki, director of the acclaimed documentary Capturing the Friedmans and the feature film All Good Things (which seems like a barely fictional version of Robert Durst’s life). It was Jarecki’s idea for a high-quality documentary series investigating how a wealthy New York scion, Robert Durst, has basically gotten away with murdering several people over the course of decades. It’s like True Detective, only this really happened. I haven’t been watching the show, but I have been following the developments in the past few weeks, especially because the documentary series has turned up legitimate new evidence (which they turned over to police).
Durst is now 71 years old. When the new evidence was uncovered – in Durst’s alleged murder of writer Susan Berman in LA in 2000 – Durst did what he always does, he got the hell out of Dodge. He was arrested in New Orleans yesterday, having checked into a hotel under an assumed name. The NOPD arrested him at the behest of the LAPD, and LA County is looking to extradite Durst. He says he won’t fight the extradition. His arrest came down just hours before HBO aired Durst’s final interview for The Jinx. Durst – perhaps not realizing that his mic was still live – admitted that he “killed them all.”
It almost sounded like a confession. At the end of Robert Durst’s final interview for the HBO docuseries The Jinx, he heads into the bathroom while fully miked. Seemingly unaware that he was being recorded, he talked to himself. “You’re caught,” he mumbled. “You’re right, of course. But, you can’t imagine. Arrest him.”
“What the hell did I do?” he continued. “Killed them all, of course.”
It’s unclear whether this was a confession, but the FBI did arrest Durst on Saturday afternoon in New Orleans. (The FBI had been investigating Durst apart from the documentary and there’s no evidence that they arrested him because of his confession on Sunday’s episode.)
The arrest may have come at the right time. Durst seemingly had all the tools for a clean getaway. According to a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation, Durst had checked into a Mariott in New Orleans under a false name. In his possession, according to the source: a fake passport, other falsified documents, and a large amount of cash.
“It was obvious that he planned to get the hell out of Dodge,” says the law enforcement source, noting that Durst was arrested on a capital murder warrant. “It was the first day that the New Orleans airport was offering flights to Cuba, so that’s where we think he was going.”
Durst, 71, is accused of killing his friend Susan Berman, who was found shot execution-style in her California home in 2000. It’s not Durst’s only brush with the law. He has widely been suspected in the 1982 disappearance of his wife, Kathleen Durst. In 2001, he was arrested for the murder and dismemberment of neighbor Morris Black. He was later acquitted.
This is sort of amazing, right? That an in-depth investigative docu-series turned up new evidence AND a confession/admission? That the evidence is being used to arrest an alleged murderer three times over?
The LA Times has a longer breakdown of the murder of Susan Berman and the case against Durst – go here to read. Do I think Durst will finally have to pay for his crimes? Eh. Maybe. The Jinx has been really damaging, I’ll say that.
Photos courtesy of HBO, Getty.
If a documentary could uncover this evidence, why couldn’t the police??? Justice is long overdue.
Dude epitomizes creepy.
I am going to find it hard to believe, that the LAPD did not already have the hand writing comparisons done. Years ago.
So I did not see what the big deal was about the envelopes. Or the misspelling of Beverley. And who wants to bet Durst will claim he found her dead. Knew he did not want to be caught near another dead body. So he sent a letter to make sure she did not just lie there and decay.
I do fully expect to see this get a little crazy. Maybe he will hire Lohan’s attorney… who seems to know how to keep folks out of jail.
The only thing of interest that the film manage to get… was Durst actually sitting for a decent interview. Where he showed off all his bizarre tic’s. None of the police departments ever got the chance to really have a in depth conversation with him.
The envelopes were uncovered by the documentarians ( is that a word) The evidence was in boxes released to the woman’s nephew after her death by the LAPD.
His crimes have gone unpunished because of the incredible lack of interest in the various police officials to get to the truth. The detective that was assigned to his first wife’s dissappearance assumed she left him and was hiding out and was more than willing to cling on to this theory in the face of overwhelming evidence. Durst’s assertions after her dissappearance of where he was and what he was doing completly fell apart with a little leg work by the film makers.
This has to be incredibly embarrassing to the LAPD and Westchester police departments and they should feel accountable to the victims and relatives of Dursts subsequent murder victims.
His eyes look like those creepy, dark empty eyes in horror films, like he has no soul.
I can’t even look at his face , his empty , cold eyes just creep me out. So evil.
Same eyes as Robert Blake, who not coincidentally probably got away with murdering his wife as well. See the similarities? http://atlantablackstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/130715142342-06-acquittals-blake-horizontal-gallery.jpg
Filmmakers have more access to the actual people. Spends hrs/months/years with them, the people become comfortable & end up revealing themselves on film. They have more access to people wanting to tell their side of the story, junior investigators & people the prosecution doesn’t have time to question or pursue. Filmmakers entertain those bits of information, that can be ignored because it’s a large looming case. The Paradise Lost films is why the West Memphis 3 were released from prison. Think of the great film the Thin Blue Line, the recent Frontline doc on A murder in St. Augustine. Not a first time a film has lead to prosecution or proved the innocence of people
What a disgusting person. My question is this documentary was obviously filmed a while ago. Why is he just now being arrested for his confession? They need to lock him up.
In an interview this morning, the filmmaker said they didn’t find the audio until two years after the fact, when they were editing the final piece. Kinda insane.
His brother released a statement thanking police and those responsible for his arrest, and said he hoped his brother would finally be held accountable for his horrible actions.
The brother is by no means blameless. If you watched the documentary and see statements from law enforcement and his first wife’s family its pretty clear they’ve protected him throughout this whole thing, that they knew more about what happened to Kathleen. His punishment for the first murder was being pushed out of the family business and usurped by the younger brother.
Robert has made threats to his brother and he’s afraid for his life THAT is why he is grateful.
My theory is the late father Seymour was instrumental in covering up the first murder and made Douglas go along with the cover up. He runs a multibillion dollar company and has a reputation to protect so now of course he’s going to make these kinds of statements.
Did anyone listen to the audio on Gawker last night? Not to minimize the atrocity that is this man, but he really sounded like Walter Matthau to me. Which was quite the paradox.
I’ve been watching the series and the audio is incredibly weird. He alternates saying “you” and “I” throughout his little commentary, throws in some random comments about burping (as though it’s a nervous tick), and seems to be arguing with himself. I’m very curious to see how that audio is handled whenever this goes to trial, if it does.
One thing is for sure, this guy is creepy!
I thought All Good Things was underrated. Kirsten Dunst, who I usually don’t like, was really good as Durst’s wife Kathy. I’m so glad they finally caught him!
Edit: oops, that film was “fictional”.
I had watched it last Summer… maybe on HBO? It was a decent film. Gosling has that ability to pull off the creepy vibe… without being campy.
The movie did not skip out on what happen to the missing wife. And how the Father (of the husband) knew exactly what happen to her.
I just listened to the story on CNN and I was like “I’m SURE I’ve seen a movie about this!” I remembered Ryan Gosling was in it. Weird story.
I haven’t seen the show on HBO, but watched prior stories about Durst, on some crime show(s).
I still don’t think this is enough to put him away. His lawyers got him off after the gruesome crime where he dismembered a guy, forcrisssakes.
I don’t think it will put him away either, he has the same lawyers that got him acquitted in Texas representing him. The word is he was going to take a flight to Cuba and that is why he was arrested to keep him from leaving the country.
Isn’t that the truth? Shouldn’t there..isn’t there…wasn’t there some law against cutting up a dead body…disposing of it and never telling anyone…because you looked guilty of murder? I mean seriously…how do you get away with that, in and of itself?
I’ve been watching this doc in utter: WHAT???? like really how is this man not in jail when he doesn’t even go through the bother of even hiding his responsibility all that way.. like dude legit smirked the whole interview and didnt so much as bother with Alibis
like my other question is: WHY would he agree to do this documentary and interview unless it was Utter delusion?
His money buys him great lawyers. He’s gotten away with the murder of his “best friend”. I don’t believe anything he says. The fact that the Texas jury acquitted him is disgusting. Also I read somewhere he is wearing contact lenses that make his eyes have less whites to appear innocent.
This article cracked me up about Durst’s hard blink every time he lies. http://morningafter.gawker.com/robert-durst-blinks-every-goddamn-time-he-tells-a-lie-1691283820
Men like him usually want to be caught. It’s a game, by this time his ego is so big he thinks he’ll always be smarter, so he’s pushing the boundaries and maybe this will be the last time. Or maybe he’ll get off again…
The only reason they’re doing anything now is that the show has put a spot light on the incompetence the law has demonstrated.
Its a sin. If he was living in a trailer would he be treated the same?
This man is a sociopath serial killer.
I have been seeing/ reading stories about this guy for years. I think I first heard of him on American Confidential (anyone remember that show?), and was totally fascinated by his living in a boardinghouse disguised as a mute woman. It was during that time that he murdered his suspicious neighbor, Morris Black. I had totally forgotten about that story until I was watching “All Good Things”, and then had a flash of “It’s the crazy guy dressed as a woman! A MUTE woman! In a boardinghouse!”.
Truth is so much stranger than fiction.
This case has fascinated me for a long time. Although you would think he would already be behind bars, there hasn’t been enough evidence to arrest him let alone convict him of Susn Berman’s murder or his wife’s disappearance, until now. Apparently the documentary filmmakers turned over new evidence on Berman’s murder to the LAPD last summer and the police has been investigating this new evidence and more since then. I think he will be nailed for Susan Berman’s murder but don’t see how he would be for his wife’s disappearance since there is no body and no physical signs of foul play.
Well, that certainly didn’t sound like a confession to me. He could have been dramatizing. I’m surprised the FBI would use something as baseless as that.